Last year Cambridgeshire and Peterborough recycled over 7,370 tonnes of aluminium & steel cans and scrap metal. Not much when we know that 2% of our rubbish is made of these materials. That means we sent 7,720 tonnes to be buried in the ground when we could have recycled it. What a waste - cans are 100% recyclable!

Recycling is the usually the best option for waste metal. It reduces the use of raw materials and therefore the costs of extracting metal from metal ore. It uses less energy and produces less pollution.

Metal facts:

Aluminium

  • Compared to the use of raw materials recycling aluminium can potentially save 95% of energy and reduces emissions by 99%.
  • Aluminium can be recycled indefinitely and is the most cost-effective material to recycle.
  • Nearly 60% of the aluminium used in the UK has been previously recycled.
  • It takes four tonnes of bauxite to produce each tonne of aluminium. Bauxite is not a scarce resource but it is difficult and expensive to extract the aluminium.
  • Every aluminium beverage can has on average 51.4% recycled content.
  • If all the aluminium cans in the UK were recycled there would be 12 million fewer full dustbins each year.

Steel

  • Recycling 1 tonne of steel can save 1.5 tonnes of iron ore, 0.5 tonnes of coke and 40% of the water required in production.
  • For each kilo of tinplated steel recycled, mining waste is reduced by 1.3kg.
  • The energy savings in using scrap steel instead of iron ore are over 70%
  • Emissions can be reduced by about 30% to air and by between 60% and 70% to water.

Facts from wastewatch.org.uk

What happens to my cans?

  • Cans collected from your kerbside box will be separated from the rest of your recycling by hand or by machine.
  • They will be crushed and baled and sent for recycling.
  • In the recycling plant, aluminium and steel cans will be separated. Cans are fed along a conveyor belt, steel cans stick to a magnet, and aluminium cans drop off into a separate storage bay.
  • The cans will be shredded.
  • The metal goes though a special process to remove the coating and decoration.
  • The clean shreds are fed into a furnace and melted. The liquid metal is poured into large mould to form giant bars.
  • The bars are sent onto to manufactures, melted again and rolled into sheets.
  • The sheets of metals will be used to make new products, including cars and planes!

Scrap Metal

Scrap metal such as fridges, freezers and other white goods can be taken to your local HWRC or contact your local recycling officer. We need to make sure that these products are recycled correctly!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q) Do I need to separate my aluminium and steel cans?

A) No. Food and drink cans can be recycled together. They can be separated at the recycling facility.

Q) How do I recycle my cans?

A) All kerbside recycling collections in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough accept cans. Your can also take them to a recycling centre or to your local Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC).

Q) Can I recycle aerosol cans?

A) Empty aerosol cans be recycled though your kerbside collection or local can recycling bank. Lids must be removed.

Q) Do my cans need to be cleaned before I recycle them?

A) Preferably. It is not essential but it will help keep your box clean and stop smells. To save water please rinse using the washing up water.

Q) Do I need to squash my cans and tins?

A) Uncrushed cans will still be collected but it is always a good idea to do this. It will allow you to fit more into you recycling container. If you wish, you can buy a can crusher for this purpose. See our contact and links page.

Q) Can I recycle foil?

A) Clean foil is only accepted in the black box kerbside collection in Cambridge City. Foil can be difficult for councils to collect for recycling as it is made differently from cans and therefore needs to be separated to be recycled.

Q) Isn't driving to the recycling banks un-environmentally friendly?

A) It can be. To reduce travel and pollution, you should combine your trip with another errand such as shopping, rather than making a special journey.